The distance race is a struggle that results in self-discovery. It is an adventure involving the limits of the self

Monday, January 18, 2010

The first time I rode 30 miles...and the day I lost my mind

This morning John and I set our alarms early to head out and conquer another first for the weekend.

The first time we ever rode the Jacksonville-Baldwin trail, and the first time we ever rode 30 miles!

I was shocked how normal my legs felt after all they have done this weekend (11 mile run Friday night, 20 mile ride yesterday), but they didn't register any exhaustion until after we had gone about 5 miles.

We were both expecting a gorgeous day like we had yesterday, but we were very surprised to see the temperature had dropped from the time we left our house to the time we made it to the trail head. I had luckily thrown an extra jacket in the truck which I wore the entire ride, but John only had a thin shirt so he ended up wearing a work shirt he happened to have in the car.

We started to get some sun after about 5 miles and made it to the end (about 14.5 miles) and 2 miles back to the big rest area.

At the rest area I was starving as I had clearly already burned off my breakfast. I had a Clif-Z Bar and a package of Sport Beans.

We met a nice old man during our break who is a member of the North Florida Bike Club and was telling us about all their rides and traditions. The sun had gone back into hiding at this point and I told John we needed to get moving as I was getting REALLY cold and was nervous about getting back if we didn't get warmed up soon.

We hopped on our bikes and made it about 75 yards only to stuble onto this...

A train just sitting on the tracks, not moving, just sitting. The middle of the train was right in front of us, so there wasn't really a good way around it, so we sat for a while until it finally moved and then headed on our way.

We started off for the next 3 miles as fast as we could to try and warm-up as quick as possible, it worked, and right about that time the sun decided to re-appear.

I noticed this little compounf both coming and going on our adventure today. Yes this is someone's house marked with a confederate flag and broken down truck in the yard. What makes it even better is that broken down truck you see is not raised on cinder blocks or special car ramps, each wheel is propped up on 2 deflated tires- Can we say redneck!

After leaving the redneck-ville we were only about 6 miles away from the end and stopped at an area that was once a battlefield of some sort. There was some signs mostly referencing construction and Robert E. Lee. I caught a good shot of John in front of the only building

And John also found this sign posted that he liked

We had so much fun this morning, but I was also happy when we were finished. We rode for 2 1/2 hours and just shy of 30 miles- craziness!!!

Also to give you an idea of how hungry I was...

That 1762 is the number of calories that I burned on our ride- INSANE!!!

There were tons of runners/bikers out using the trail today, and I can see why it was great. 15 miles each way of straight, paved, and partially shaded trail. Once we loaded up the truck we headed straight for food, and today's choice was Panera. I had you-pick-two with salad and sandwich and also the apple they threw in as my side.

I also took a hot bath to warm up as I was still cold and then ran out for some errands. I finally dropped off our registration for this Saturday's race, hit Target, and publix. Once home I had a 2nd lunch- the last of the chili I made last week and an orange.

I did some homework and then John and I headed to the gym. He did weights and I got in a 3 mile run that I needed- I maintained my ideal race pace for this weekend. Tonight was chicken tacos and then folding laundry, painting my toes, prepping veggies for the week, and now the blog.

It is my bed time, and my body is in desperate need of rest- will see you tomorrow hopefully with some exciting news!